More opponents named for BoxNation ‘Battle of Belfast’ bill this Saturday
The majority of the remaining fighters have been matched for the big Belfast bill this weekend.
The BoxNation card takes place once again at the Waterfront Hall on Saturday (June 17th) with three intriguing ranking title fights topping the bill.
Paddy Barnes fights Silvio Oltenau for the WBO European flyweight belt, Stephen Ormond challenges Craig Evans for the same title at lightweight, and Jono Carroll takes on Johnny Quigley for the IBF super featherweight East/West Europe strap, while Lewis Crocker faces tough Bulgarian welter Radoslav Mitev.
Following the withdrawal of Commonwealth champion Jamie Conlan, there are another six fights on the show, including four Irish fighters.
BUI Celtic light welterweight champion Tyrone McKenna [13(5)-0-1] will not be able to go for three all-Irish wins in a row due to difficulties finding an available domestic. ‘The Mighty Celt’ therefore faces Poland’s Lukasz Gworek [6(2)-1(0)] over six. The Eastern European boxer has built a good record in his home country, including a points win over current WBO European super featherweight champion Zoltan Kovacs. In his most recent fight, back in September, the Oswiecim boxer stepped up from lightweight to light welterweight where he was outpointed over six by Michal Lesniak.
Derry crowd-pleaser Sean McGlinchey [1(0)-0] faced a much larger opponent in his debut back in April, but the middleweight-bound Foylesider will be up against the more-appropriately sized Dan Blackwell [7(1)-64(1)] here. The younger brother of former British champion Nick is known as one of the most durable journeymen around.
Steven Ward [3(0)-0] takes the step up to six rounds on the bill, and the Newtownabbey light heavy fights Mitch Mitchell [7(3)-61(8)-3]. The aggressive Englishman should bring Ward the distance, however it would be a big statement if ‘The Quiet Man’ can take out ‘Mad Mitch.’
Finally there is the much-anticipated debut of Davey Oliver Joyce. The Mullingar lightweight is scheduled to start over six rounds. Joyce was initially due to start against dirty Hungarian spoiler Gyula Tallosi [15(9)-19(8)], however this opponent has withdrawn and a replacement is expected soon.
Aside from the Irish boys, there are two of Warren’s Liverpool prospects in action.
Heavyweight debutant Alex Dickenson will make his paid bow against Ferenc Zsalek [20(6)-58(25)-6] who was outpointed over eight by Con Sheehan on the last Belfast BoxNation show.
Light welterweight Sam Maxwell will face [2(1)-0] will box Teodor Nikolov [4(1)-23(3)-2] who has gone the distance with Sean Creagh, Tyrone McKenna, and Crank Whitehouse.
LISTEN: Gavan Casey and Joe O’Neill speak to Luke Keeler and Paddy Barnes on Episode 6 of The Irish Boxing Show:
